ave done; for then I should have
endeavoured to make out the chamber into which Jocondo peeped and
discovered what cured him of his melancholy, and where the impatient Queen
received the petulant answer from her beloved Nano, conveyed by one of her
waiting maids who told her:

E per non stare in perdita d'un soldo,
A voi nega venire fl manigoldo.[120]

Nor, lest he lose a doit, his paltry stake,
Will that discourteous churl his game forsake

--_Trans._ W.S. ROSE.

MILAN, 28th June.

I have been to the _Scala_ theatre, to see the _Ballet of the Vestal_, one
of the most interesting Ballets I ever beheld. Oh! what a mighty magician
is the ballet master Vigano, and as for the prima ballerina, Pallerini,
what praises can equal her merit? then, the delightful soul soothing music,
so harmonious, so pathetic, and the decorations so truly tasteful and
classical! I can never forget the impression this fascinating Ballet made
on me. It is called _La Vestale_. It opens with a view of the Circus in
ancient Rome, and various gymnastic exercises, combats of gladiators, of
athletes, and ends with a chariot race with real horses. The Roman Consuls
are present in all their pomp, surrounded by Lictors with axes and fasces.
The Vestal virgins assist at this spectacle, and from one of them the
victor in the games receives a garland, as the recompense of his prowess.
The victor is the son of one of the Consuls and the hero of the piece; the
heroine is the Vestal Virgin who crowns him with the garland. The young
victor becomes desperately enamored of the Vestale, and she appears also to
feel an incipient flame. After the games are over, the victor returns to
his father's house, and meeting there one of his friends, discloses to him
his love for the Vestale and his idea of entering by stealth into the
temple of Vesta, where his beloved was appointed to watch the sacred fire.
His friend endeavors, but in vain, to dissuade him from so rash an attempt,
which can only end in the destruction, both of his beloved and himself. All
the remonstrances, however, of the friend are vain; and the hero fixed in
his resolve watches for the opportunity, when it is the turn of his beloved
to officiate in the temple of Vesta, and enters therein. The Vestale is
terrified and supplicates him to retire: in vain; and after a long but
ineffectual struggle she sinks into his arms at the foot of the altar.
Suddenly the sacred flame becomes extinguished